Bad Synergy: Consultants Score $1.5 Billion from Medicaid

Taxpayers are unknowingly paying private consultants a cut of the Medicaid money the consultants help states claim for school-based health services. Federal auditors have flagged more than $1.5 billion of those claims as improper or unsupported across four states, and the consultant was the same in every one: Boston-based Public Consulting Group (PCG). New Jersey’s audit states the firm was hired “on a contingency fee basis,” and the Government Accountability Office has found consultants building school Medicaid claims collected fees of 3 to 25 percent of the federal reimbursement. The more school-staff time coded as “Medicaid,” the bigger the check....